Well, for Ellsbury there was some speculation about a deal with Texas centered on Holland. I don't know what else was in it and who walked away. Maybe a lesser pitcher and a prospect outside the organizations' top 10. It does not sound like a lot. given his agent is Boras, I could imagine the Nats saying we can get a long term deal done, and it is just a question of the short term rental price.
In theory, if you added Ellsbury and brought back ALR, you could have a very balanced line up.
1 Ells (8 )
2 Werth (7)
3 Harper (9)
4 Zimmerman (5)
5 ALR(3)
6 Desmond (6)
7 Espi / Lombo (4)
8 Catcher (2)
If you think that is too aggressive with Harper, you can always go RRLL in 2- 5